Yesterday a lot of folks suggested that there wasn't anything particularly incriminating in the Scott Walker prank Koch call, even though he was caught on tape saying clearly he had "thought about" planting troublemakers among protesting crowds.

Well, here's one person who finds this disturbing: The police chief in Madison, Wisconsin. The Journal Sentinel reports:

Madison Police Chief Noble Wray said Thursday that he found comments by Gov. Scott Walker made about protesters at the state Capitol during a prank phone call "very unsettling and troubling."

In a statement, Wray said he spent time overnight thinking about the comments Walker made during a 20-minute conversation with a Buffalo N.Y. blogger who posed as a major Republican donor during the call...

Wray said he was disturbed that Walker thought about planting troublemakers among peaceful protesters.

"I would like to hear more of an explanation from Governor Walker as to what exactly was being considered, and to what degree it was discussed by his cabinet members. I find it very unsettling and troubling that anyone would consider creating safety risks for our citizens and law enforcement officers," the chief said.

The blase reaction by some in the press to this quote was a bit surprising, but that seems to have turned around a bit today. MSNBC has been pushing the quote hard, and more broadly, the big news orgs have been in effect portraying Walker as a bit of a national joke: "Governor punk'd."

I think it's perfectly possible that Walker misspoke, and that he meant to say that he had heard this idea mentioned to him by others and had declined. But it's perfectly fair to insist on an explanation, as the Madison police chief is now doing. Even putting aside the specifics of those remarks, the call ripped the lid off of this story, revealing the crude throwback nature of Walker's intentions. It exposed Walker as almost a 19th century figure, nodding along as a (fake) fat-cat donor chortled about crushing unions, through violence if necessary.

Why is it that the Republicans always get a pass on violence? If Scott Walker was a Democrat and doing and saying what he has done, especially about planting violent protestors in the Madison crowds, he would have been arrested by now...all the news media would be in an uproar, etc. etc.

David Dayen has a good post up about those union "thugs" and what it's really like on the ground in WI, as opposed to random people posting caricatures. He promises us more later.

""There are two stories going on here. One is a political story, and it’s a battle of wills, in many ways. Will Senate Democrats crack by returning to Madison and allowing the budget repair bill to pass, or will Republicans call off the assault on worker’s rights and move on with the bill? That’s what it boils down to, and in my next post I’ll explain why I think the Republicans, (mis)led by Scott Walker, are losing their grip and may have to concede at some point.

But there’s another story as well. And that’s the story of the state Capitol building, under a virtual occupation for the 10th straight day. What started as a protest has taken on the quality of a virtual city on the square. It’s very hard to explain unless you see it for yourself, but I’ll try. The Capitol has become a site for dissent, an information center, an organizing hub, a pizzeria, a display of wit and the site of a new progressive movement. That’s really not overstating the case.

As you walk into the Capitol, the walls are basically covered, and not just with protest slogans and witticisms, though they are there as well (“Hey Stewart/Colbert, we came to your rally, now come to ours”; “The Curdish rebels of Wisconsin”; “Thank God for CNN or I’d never know what’s on Twitter”). Scott Walker is getting a lot of mockery as well; my favorite banner read “Hey Scott Walker, this is David Koch, will you talk to me?” Madison is the birthplace of The Onion, after all. But the walls are also festooned with a surprising amount of graphs and charts, depicting inequality in America, or the percentage cuts to BadgerCare in the budget repair bill, or how much of the federal budget is spent on war and the military. There are even historical treatises about how Abraham Lincoln once jumped out of a window to avoid a quorum call in the Illinois Senate. This is a wonk rebellion too, furthered by the Internet and the easy accessibility of data.""

If Obama joked about a bat in his oval office to Trumka, Fox would have guest after guest on to ask them what they thought about the President joking about bashing Tea Partiers heads in and if they think the President should apologize. Asking them if he crossed the line.

It would be on Fox 24/7. Every hourly show would ask the same question over and over. Every right wing blog would have blaring headlines of Obama with a bat drawn in his hand cartoons. Every right wing radio station would be hammering away at it, hour after hour.

At no point is the Governor of a state joking to who he thinks was a major contributor to his campaign about beating protesters with bats funny.

There is a strong possibility that Walker has engaged in extensive planning to plant dangerous thugs among the protestors.

Last week; Mark Williams of The Tea Party openly called for such a scheme to be carried out. I believe that TPM did a report on what he said, but I think if you just do a google search, you will be able to find accounts of what Mark Williams called for.

If might be time for the FBI to investgate if Walker has engaged in plotting such a plan. It would seem that he may have already broken the law. After all; they do round up, and convict people for discussing plans to commit terrorist acts.

Right wing partisans would be insisting to be invited onto every other cable news station and they would push how the President joked about bashing in the heads of Tea Party protesters.

The conversation would focus on that to the point of a frenzy. Opinions would be heavily shaped. The public would overwhelmingly turn against the President. It would be shameful to throw your support behind someone who joked about bashing in the heads of the people he is supposed to represent.

I'd wager that the "lot of folks" who found nothing incriminating in the Scott Walker-Fake Koch phone call all reside in the NY-DC echo chamber. It's not their rights that are on the line.

But I believe there was plenty for a Wisconsin residents to be disturbed by, such as:

*The casual way Walker talked about laying off 5,000 or 6,000 people, a number he could "ratchet up" if he needed to, in order to put pressure on Democrats. He told the public part of the reason he was trying to kill collective bargaining was to save jobs. He clearly doesn't care about that.

Dayen's take on the scene in Madison is spot-on to what I saw when I was there last Saturday, and especially the "wonk" aspect. Don't forget, a big portion of the protesters are educated professionals...teachers, nurses, firefighters, police, and a big contingent of UW students. They are not a dumb crowd.

There is a strong possibility that Walker has engaged in extensive planning to plant dangerous thugs among the protesters.

Last week; Mark Williams of The Tea Party openly called for such a scheme to be carried out. I believe that TPM did a report on what he said, but I think if you just do a google search, you will be able to find accounts of what Mark Williams called for.

If might be time for the FBI to investigate if Walker has engaged in plotting such a plan. It would seem that he may have already broken the law. After all; they do round up, and convict people for discussing plans to commit terrorist acts.

Dig deep Greg. There is probably a lot more to this story, than has so far been reported on.

""Sure they do. They just aren't as good at it, is all. But practice makes perfect. :-)

I, for one, miss Air America.""

They're not as good as lining up funding for it, which was my point. If you don't get the equivalent of a Rev. Moon who's willing to lose millions on the operation for decades at a time, you can't compete.
.

"It has plenty of cash, with foreign reserves alone totalling nearly $140 billion. Its talented exiles are eager to return. And, in a sense Mr Qaddafi is unlikely to have foreseen, the trauma of his rule may have forged a national identity much more heartfelt than it was before."

"Sure they do. They just aren't as good at it, is all. But practice makes perfect. :-)"

Well, it's more that non-Conservative programs don't really have the audience base. Not everyone is like Conservatives. We aren't obsessed with belonging to some club and finding out talking points. Non-Conservatives just want information and there's no reason to go to a liberal outlet for that.

Honestly, teachers across this country should be aware of how corporate interests can influence Governors to cut their benefits in order to allow business to game the system.

In other words, at the cost of those that educate our children, will come the payoff to campaign contributors.

It's a downward spiral in our education system. The constant attack from the right on our public teaching system is slowly eroding away what was once a noble occupation. Many highly skilled people stay away because they know, the second there is a downturn, they look to teachers to take the lopsided brunt of the load on their backs. Teachers are demonized as leeches on society from the right.

Driving home last month I remember reading a bumper sticker that encapsulated this disdain for public teachers that read; paraphrased 'I Can't Wait to Defund All Public Schools so We Can Build More Stealth Bombers.'

Who on earth could be that ignorant?

The video footage of Sarah Palin and her daughter rolling their eyes when a protester in Alaska mentioned she was a public school teacher is just one more example of the growing disdain the right has for public education.

I know the right likes to say the left thinks Republicans are all dumb rednecks (at least they joke that way to fire up the partisans) but when the apparent attack on our educators is so apparent in every day politics, it's not some far fetched conclusion that the right just doesn't like teachers.

He voted to kill the funding, but now he hopes that Democrats will restore it.

From TPM

"Check out, for instance, this interview with freshman Rep. Bobby Schilling (R-IL), who's tied in knots over his recent vote to kill a transportation project in his district. Specifically, he voted for the House spending legislation, which would eliminate a $230 million federal grant to build an Amtrak line from Chicago to Iowa City, if it goes into effect.

"I'm not saying that we don't ever do Amtrak," Schilling said. "I'm saying that right now. I want to be clear because that was all part of the big picture when you looked at the pros and cons of what was in there, it was definitely the way to go... to vote for this."

This was a big deal in his district, so of course people want answers. And one of his answers is that he hopes his Senators -- including Democrat Dick Durbin, whom Schilling has criticized -- will restore the funds."

"This was a big deal in his district, so of course people want answers. And one of his answers is that he hopes his Senators -- including Democrat Dick Durbin, whom Schilling has criticized -- will restore the funds."

And if Durbin and the rest of the Senate is able to restore the funding, the legislation may have to go back to the House for a final vote....and then what will he do?

At or near the Fix, we had previously discussed the long history of Republican anti-intellectual populism, the standard of which is now carried by the Palins, which antedates Spiro Agnew, though he was certainly one of the more infamous baiters of, for example, effete intellectual snobs.

I remember you Mark discussing growing up around people who considered the word 'intellectual' an insult, a bad educational outcome.

I think you should stick with the 19th century for the Walker characterization, Greg. In fact, I'd like to see it broadened to some kind of slogan about Republicans yanking us back to the 19th century and Democrats forging ahead in the 21st. Anybody?

dknight: "FDR, that great supporter of private unions and the father of progressive dogma, was 100% against public unions."

Try this one on for size:

"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws, you would not hear of that party again. There is a tiny splinter group that believes that you can do these things. Among them are a few Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or businessman from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid." Dwight Eisenhower

Rolling Stone says Army general William Caldwell (in Afghanistan) has been using "psychological operations" to influence US lawmakers. RS says he tasked "psy-ops" personnel to help him persuade legislators to support budget increases.

Posted by: dknight12345 | February 24, 2011 12:57 PM
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Your post states that public workers should not have the right to collective bargaining if that is so why didn't Walker go after the police, fire, and state trooper unions? Oh, I forgot these unions contributed to his campaign so I guess that just puts Walker into the pocket of unions as well just not the unions that you like.

I don't care about the baseball bat, it's the way Walker sucks up to Koch, the governor as underling of a private donor. Not that Koch has given Walker that much, but the Kochs rule the GOP and all Repugs kiss their rings. And Walker is sure eager to take Koch up on his bribe of a free trip to California and a - nudge, nudge, wink, wink - "good time". One can not listen to the full 20-minute phone call and see Walker as anything but an obsequious puppet.

Why Chris Christie is much better suited to lead this battle than Scott Walker:

"How Chris Christie Did His Homework"

"Like a stand-up comedian working out-of-the-way clubs, Chris Christie travels the townships and boroughs of New Jersey­, places like Hackettstown and Raritan and Scotch Plains, sharpening his riffs about the state’s public employees, whom he largely blames for plunging New Jersey into a fiscal death spiral. In one well-worn routine, for instance, the governor reminds his audiences that, until he passed a recent law that changed the system, most teachers in the state didn’t pay a dime for their health care coverage, the cost of which was borne by taxpayers.

And so, Christie goes on, forced to cut more than $1 billion in local aid in order to balance the budget, he asked the teachers not only to accept a pay freeze for a year but also to begin contributing 1.5 percent of their salaries toward health care. The dominant teachers’ union in the state responded by spending millions of dollars in television and radio ads to attack him.

“The argument you heard most vociferously from the teachers’ union,” Christie says, “was that this was the greatest assault on public education in the history of New Jersey.” Here the fleshy governor lumbers a few steps toward the audience and lowers his voice for effect. “Now, do you really think that your child is now stressed out and unable to learn because they know that their poor teacher has to pay 1½ percent of their salary for their health care benefits? Have any of your children come home — any of them — and said, ‘Mom.’ ” Pause. “ ‘Dad.’ ” Another pause. “ ‘Please. Stop the madness.’ ”

By this point the audience is starting to titter, but Christie remains steadfastly somber in his role as the beseeching student. “ ‘Just pay for my teacher’s health benefits,’ ” he pleads, “ ‘and I’ll get A’s, I swear. But I just cannot take the stress that’s being presented by a 1½ percent contribution to health benefits.’ ” As the crowd breaks into appreciative guffaws, Christie waits a theatrical moment, then slams his point home. “Now, you’re all laughing, right?” he says. “But this is the crap I have to hear.” "

Who? Well, quite logically, all those who make far below the "not rich" benchmark of $250,000.00/year, and so reasonably **not** those who make $250,000.00/year or many, many, many, many, many, many times that amount.
.

And I'll bet CC doesn't have the ability to sell power generating facilities to whomever he likes stuffed into a teacher union busting bill either. I can't wait to learn what that was/is about and somehow, I don't think it will be Scott Walker telling us.

@shrink2 "And I'll bet CC doesn't have the ability to sell power generating facilities to whomever he likes stuffed into a teacher union busting bill either. I can't wait to learn what that was/is about and somehow, I don't think it will be Scott Walker telling us. "

Regarding Chris Christie, there's a lot of history in NJ of why those pensions and benefits are unfunded. I've never seen anyone ask him about that. He goes on Morning Joe and they slather all over him but never ask THE big question, what happened to the money?

Sue, I'm jealous you were in WI Saturday, I love a good protest. I may be doing a USuncut protest at a bank on Sat, if I can work it out.

Regardless of what Walker said in an unguarded moment, it does nothing to change the fact that public unions should not have collective bargaining rights.

It can't be repeated often enough: FDR, that great supporter of private unions and the father of progrssive dogma, was 100% against public unions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But James Madison, father of our Constitution believed that we should have many factions, all competing against one another for the hearts and minds of American voters. See Federalist 10. In our system, you don't silence your opponent. You give him a special hat and sit him in the front row so he can listen to you tell him why he's wrong.

Ending collective bargaining for unions is silencing them -- it strips them of their ability to influence the system -- and that's exactly what Madison says is the wrong way to control a faction.

And I'll bet CC doesn't have the ability to sell power generating facilities to whomever he likes stuffed into a teacher union busting bill either. I can't wait to learn what that was/is about and somehow, I don't think it will be Scott Walker telling us.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Two points:

Isn't it ironic that Woof Woof Walker would think his union busting law was such a winner he could hide a trojan horse within. It makes Walker's attempted dirty trick to lure Democrats to Madison and then jamming the bill through, even more suspect. Looks like that was another Napoleonic tactic that didn't work out. Walker is a total dope, but he's a narcissistic dope.

Speculation is that the Koch Brothers expanding their lobbying activities inside Wisconsin is related to Walker's end run around bidding for power facilities.

Wisconsin citizens, bless their hearts, are beginning to feel the slimy hands of the Walker/Koch crowd sliding into their pockets and are starting to push back.

It can't be repeated often enough: FDR, that great supporter of private unions and the father of progressive dogma, was 100% against public unions.

Posted by: dknight12345 | February 24, 2011 12:57 PM
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It can't be repeated enough because you hope people tire of pointing out the fallacy on which it is based. They really must have cut back on the quality of troll istruction these days. Abe Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, didn't believe blacks and whites were equal. By your logic, all the Civil Rights Acts of 40s, 50s, and 60s, therefor were overreaching.

Walker came off as a bully who thought he would be a national example/spokesperson for the Republican union busting cause.

Unfortunately, he forgot to check with his fellow Republican governors. Perhaps some of the other Republican governors saw that the employees were not going to just "take it". The unions and those they represent were perhaps more organized that some thought. Also, there is a lot of support for the WI public employees among people who are not union.

It's pretty disingenuous of most posters here to suggest that Dems' strategy sessions with supporters are high-minded and would not shrink before the light of day. Let's face it: politics is dirty, and 98% of governing goes on behind the scenes. After all, wasn't it the Post reporting about all the meetings the Obama administration is holding off-site in order to keep lobbyist visitors off the White House logs? It's simply naive to believe that either side doesn't strategize constantly against the other. Yawn.

Well the liberal whine a thon is continuing, unabated. The amusement just never seems to end.

The theme of the whining on the this comment thread can be summed up in a few quick points:
(1) Those dastardly right wingers have a lot of nerve using our tools against us. (2) The grass is always greener on the right side of the fence. They got Fox, they got talk radio, they got all sorts of media outlets and we don't. too funny
(3) MSNBC is the voice of centrist reason in America today, just ask Rachel Maddow.
(4)Why aren't Americans obeying liberal rule #1 "do as the liberals say, not as the liberals do."
(5) Everyone that isn't a liberal is a Koch-sucking moron, including the folks who got millions more votes that oh, say Liam-still or da shrink.

I have a cousin who is a nurse in Madison, and friends who are teachers in Milwaukee. Seemed like a good time for a road trip because I had a long weekend, and Madison is only 4.5 hours drive from here. I wanted to stay Sunday, too, but we were in for an ice storm, so I drove home before it hit.

I must say, it was exhilarating to be there, even just for that one day.

"Who? Well, quite logically, all those who make far below the "not rich" benchmark of $250,000.00/year, and so reasonably **not** those who make $250,000.00/year or many, many, many, many, many, many times that amount."

I got into this with Ruk a few weeks ago. The link below is from the IRS and will open up an excel sheet. provided you want to keep an income tax and not change it into something else, there just aren't enough people in the that 200k and up to pay enough taxes to cover the shortfall. there were only 3.5 million returns for those between 200k and under 500k. about that, you don't even have 900,000 returns.

He was talking about the top 400 tax payers. even if you took most of their money, (I was taking 300million of a 330 annual income) it wouldn't even cover all of Part A of Medicare for next fiscal year. then what? so even a vastly more progressive income system is going to run out of taxpayers pretty quickly.

@12Bar: ""If the GOP still had politicians like Dwight Eisenhower, some of us would be Republicans.""

Heh! If the Democrats still had politicians like Dwight Eisenhower, some of us might also be Democrats. ;)

@jpreston: ""What Chris Christie is saying is **Someone's got to pay.** Who? Well, quite logically, all those who make far below the "not rich" benchmark of $250,000.00/year, and so reasonably not those who make $250,000.00/year or many, many, many, many, many, many times that amount.""

NJ has an income tax, and it's reasonably high for a state income tax. Folks $150k and over pay approx. 6%, folks making over $500k pay 8%. And that's not marginal, it's on the full amount. Minus a flat amount that softens the immediate hit for people at the transition line, but someone making $1m in NJ still pays a lot just in state income tax (which is revenue they then don't pay federal income tax on, btw, another reason to encourage states to get their fiscal houses in order).

New Jersey also taxes capital gains, sales taxes, corporate taxes, etc. There are a lot of sources of revenue for NJ. At some point, spending does have to be reigned in, and should be. CC may not have all the best ideas or be cutting in the best areas, but I think he probably is right that this is the point where spending needs to start getting cut from somewhere. Someone who makes $2 million in NJ pays $162,357.50 in state income taxes. Then there's property taxes (which, as I understand it, aren't low) and sales taxes and capital gains taxes that accrue to NJ . . . I dunno, maybe taxes could go up, but they are at the point where they need to at least start considering cutting spending, or at least keeping it reigned in, as well.

Boston Herald "Sometimes it's necessary to get out on the streets and "get a little bloody," a Massachusetts Democrat said Tuesday in reference to labor battles in Wisconsin.
Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.) fired up a group of union members in Boston with a speech urging them to work down in the trenches to fend off limits to workers' rights like those proposed in Wisconsin."

Where is the outrage amongst the Democrats on this House Rep inciting riots among the union members to 'spill blood'? It's down right treason...He should be forced to resign immediately.

This right-wing sack of garbage should be prosecuted for intent to commit a felony. Of course only the son of an evangelical hypocritical charlatan is capable of such criminal acts (F.uckabee must be very proud os this trash).

This right-wing sack of garbage should be prosecuted for intent to commit a felony. Of course only the son of an evangelical hypocritical charlatan is capable of such criminal acts (F.uckabee must be very proud of this trash).

I'm with NoVA. In Oregon we actually passed a soak the rich ballot measure (poor Phil Knight and a lot of my doctor friends opposed it bitterly, of course) and the public employee unions are still agreeing to concessions...and the budget will get balanced. There is no need for all this fighting. More taxes on people who have plenty of money and good job security has to occur, or there will only be more and more cuts that hurt the people who depend on gov services to live.

Heh! If the Democrats still had politicians like Dwight Eisenhower, some of us might also be Democrats. ;)
--------------------------------------------
Since there are more Democrats than Republicans, it seems that the problem of getting crossovers is more of a Republican problem.

We all lose that the great moderates in both parties are now endangered species.

Good for the Chief of Police: Here is the GOVERNOR planning to start a riot! For political ends. He called it just another option! The SILENCE by the Republicans/Conservatives/Tea Partiers is truly deafening!

What Walker was counting on was the lack of fight in Democrats. He had ever reason to believe that they would not put up a fight this time, because both Feingold and Tom Barrett never went on the offensive during the election campaign. Karl Rove and The Chamber Of Commerce turned them into 24/7 punching bags, and Russ Feingold would not even allow any outside money to come in and help him to fight back.

Both Feingold and Barrett campaigned as if they were applying for to replace Mr. Rodgers.

That led Walker to assume that he would meet with no resistance from the Democrats now.

Time for Democrats to start selecting candidates who have emerged from The Working Classes, who know how to fight for the rights of the people they grew up among, instead of offering up more jellyfish Lawyers to represent us.

Good for the Chief of Police: Here is the GOVERNOR planning to start a riot! For political ends. He called it just another option! The SILENCE by the Republicans/Conservatives/Tea Partiers is truly deafening!
------------------------------------------------------
The GOP has that deer in the headlights look.

They could have said "it wasn't Walker", but too late for that. They could have said "it was vague", but Walker kept going on...and on...and on...to make sure that "Mr. Koch" got the full genius of Walker's political tricks.

This is nonsense:
===================
It can't be repeated enough because you hope people tire of pointing out the fallacy on which it is based. They really must have cut back on the quality of troll istruction these days. Abe Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, didn't believe blacks and whites were equal. By your logic, all the Civil Rights Acts of 40s, 50s, and 60s, therefor were overreaching.
===================

The thoughts of Abraham Lincoln, however devasting they might seem to the commenter, have absolutely nothing to do with the issue at hand. Neither do the civil rights era laws that were passed.

The simple fact is that FDR made a case that, to this day, is true.

By the "logic" of oldbeachhouse the unions should not be forced to act in a responsible manner because ice cream has no bones.

See? I stated a fact. Yes it is irrelevant, but it is a fact. And to the oldbeachhouse nothing else seems to matter.

FDR got it right, way back when. I disagree with much of FDR's economics but on this particular issue he clearly understood the hearts of people.

Here's the problem lefties: greed is a basic part of human nature. The civil service unions are being greedy, just as FDR predicted they would.

Christies appearance on "morning joe" was very insightful. So is Michael Barone's column today.

Mr Christie points out that the unions bought the legislature. Mr Barone points out that by virtue of the union scam that's been going on in America, the taxpayers have funded the Democrat party.

This is why the national boys and girls are in WI, the golden seam is at risk. And about time too.

Thanks for the list. I wonder if we can also compile a list of places that carry their products, and companies that do business with Koch, so that we can pressure them to stop doing business with them, or also face a Boycott of their businesses.

Nice try Greg. Unfortunately for the liberal America haters like yourself is that Walker said nothing that he hasn't said in public. While you have always admitted to being an anti-semite the real story is your support and appreciation of a person who sent jews to gas chambers.

Nice try Greg. Unfortunately for the liberal America haters like yourself is that Walker said nothing that he hasn't said in public. While you have always admitted to being an anti-semite the real story is your support and appreciation of a person who sent jews to gas chambers.

Posted by: mges123 | February 24, 2011 2:53 PM
.....................

For openers; Greg is Jewish, you little sewer rat, and of course the rest of your claim, is also just another Big Lie.

.
Well....thank God Walker didn't say "he would kill for a coca-cola". Let's all hyper exagerate a joking comment about having a monogrammed baseball bat in his office. Ridiculous.

Anyone here online want to go into a rampage about Obama's remark "If they bring a knife, we'll bring a gun." Given he said that outright and not on the end of a slimely blogger's deceitful set up....let's hear the diatribe on that one....anyone think Obama should be impeached for that one.

I can "only" imagine the conversations (daily by phone or 2-3 times a week between Obama and the union leaders.....anyone want to hear those taped conversations?

Given the unions paid and sent folks to Wisconsin from all over the country to interfere in a state matter.....who is the troublemaker in this scenario?

As a law enforcement officer in Madison, WI I find this act appalling. To put people in harms way is the act of a mad man. To all of you who think that "union thugs" have taken over the capital.. Stop watching so many movies. This is some thing that people are bringing their kids to. I think the best sign I have seen to date was carried by a little girl about 3 or 4 years old that read "I Am a Union Thug". Thanks for speaking out for us Wray!!!

I'm delighted we "liberal whiners" amuse you, Skipsailing28. And in that spirit, let me assure you that I enjoy your repeated attempts to channel H.L. Mencken. If only your jibes were a little lighter on the venom and drew on a few facts, they might even be witty.

Thanks to Madison, I'm now anti-union! I'm also sick of the hate-filled rifts in the nation! My best friend is an anti-religion, far-left liberal, northern defense attorney. I am a God-loving, Constitutionally-minded, southern prosecutor. We could not be more different. We met on the 1st anniversary of 9/11 which she survived in NYC and I watched from 1000 miles away. How our friendship has endured is beyond me, but it is a true friendship based on respect and love and a lot of laughter. We became concerned that the nation was so divided, so we started a blog to try to explore politics, current events, and the law with an eye towards unification and respect rather than the hateful words being spewed in the media. Sometimes we still can't find any common ground, but sometimes we find more than we expect to find. When we find that common ground it is because we are both holding to Constitutional principles, respecting one another, listening, and believing that we both really want the best for the nation - we just disagree on how to get there. My heart breaks at the rift in our nation, but I have become convinced that there is no repairation on the horizon until BOTH sides speak truth, drop agendas, adhere to the Constitution, and learn to hear each other. www.twoangelsofjustice.blogspot.com

Most of the comments have lost site of the actual problem not only in Walkers state but in most states, almost all of which have budget shortfalls. A piece of the fix requires some trimming of waste in Govt. Almost all employees of companies in the United States, if they are lucky enough to have a medical plan, pay a portiion of the costs out of their salary, the same is true for a retirement plan.
There is no reason on earth for any public service employee to do otherwise. That is the issue and that is what has to be resolved here. The msnbc's and the union bosses have turned it into this mass hysteria about union busting, pure nonsense, they appear to have fooled most of you commenters. It is time to focus on the problem which is the budget, and the fat in it. The 1000's of teachers and administrators that are ineffective and incapable of doing their jobs should be fired, pure and simple, but it won't happen, not to worry. The very least is that they should contribute to their own health and future welfare, and that is going to happen, as soon as the democrats who left the state realize that their job is to make the bills better and vote, that is what they are paid to do, not to run from a problem.
Get a Grip folks Focus on the budget issue.

Walker's discussed "thought" borders on civil terrorism and shouting "fire" in a crowded theater! He knows full well what recourse it would bring and was looking amiably to supplying the needed dynamite to keeping his KOCH happy with his play for pay in political land of union busting.

Texian-you really need to focus on the hitler wannabe in power in Wisconsin and Decide you want to yank this Nazi off his pedestal of self-imposed-power-trip!
The citizen has the free right to congregate and form unions, but only in a free country!

I hope these protests against these authoritarian Republican whack-jobs spread out to other states. I want the extremist Republican party to see what real grassroots anger looks like in their face (unlike the astroturfed Teabagger shout-fests that are bankrolled by right wing oil billionaires i.e. the Koch Brothers). 2012 is payback time for the extremist Teabagger Republican party, and I can't wait.

The teacher union controversy is a distraction to the legislation that Walker is *really* trying to slip by. It's payback time for the wealthy billionaires support with the ability to buy WI utilities on a no-bid contract:

Political Prisoner 2012---
Just your title says enough. IF you think that Reagan's Legacy was fear, hate and disinformation, you can't be helped. That was non existant during the Reagan years.
I suspect the reason you dislike that era so much is that he had the guts to fire the air traffic controllers, one of the best labor moves in the history of America.
That labor movement was so far out of line that it was the only possible solution.

Conspiracy to commit a crime is a crime in and of itself. This Police Chief has probable cause for an investigation.

Posted by: Provincial | February 24, 2011 1:10 PM | Report abuse

==========================================

How many of the left-wing bloggers actually listened to the telephone call? I suppose it doesn't matter because you spin it to the left anyway.

I listened to the recording. Walker didn't say anything that he hasn't said in public. All the inflammatory remarks were made by the caller. "Those bastards" and "we've got to bust those unions" and all the leading remarks were made by this unethical psdeudo-journalist.

While you are patting this creep on the back and exclaiming "Gotcha", the police chief might want to look into the illegality of what this disreputable con man did.

How about this? Tell your liberal reps to get their butts back to WI and do their jobs. What did Obama say to McCain during their one and only healthcare media op? Oh, yeah. Now I remember. He reminded McCain, "You lost". Time for the Dems in WI to realize that the voters put them in the minority and now they are going to have deal with it. And, again, as Obama said, "They can come along for the ride, but they're going to have to sit in the back of the bus".

The Republican Teabagger inbreeds campaigned against what they deemed to be "oppressive government" at the federal level during the health care reform debate - even though millions of Americans will substantially benefit from expanded access to health care. But when actual government oppression rears its ugly head in Wisconsin, the Teabgger clown claim that they support their precious Governor Walker? What a bunch phonies, liars and hypocrites!

In a move reminiscent of Poland under martial law in the early 1980s, Wisconsin's "General" Walker and other power-hungry Republicans in the Wisconsin state legislature (and their party brethren across the country), are attempting to unilaterally decree that henceforth virtually all public union activity will be controlled by the authoritarian state. Walker has even said that he may need to call in the National Guard. And the tea party minions support this statist takeover?

This is the same governor Walker who has lied about the state budget crisis, claiming erroneously that the salaries and benefits of public workers are to blame. When in actuality, the governor's tax cuts cuts for the rich program (according to Wisconsin's nonpartisan state budget office) was what turned a budget surplus into a budget deficit this year.

This is the same governor Walker who is engaging in blatant political favoritism and cronyism, by pledging to maintain the collective bargaining rights of the public unions who supported him in the last election (police, firefighters). Meanwhile, the rights of teachers, correction officers, social workers, and other public professionals are being attacked by Walker. Obviously, he's targeting their right to engage in collective bargaining, as a form of political payback for opposing him in the last election.

This is a clear statist attempt to destroy the more "Democratic leaning" unions, while protecting the more "Republican leaning" interest groups and other funding sources for Governor Walker and his like-minded authoritarian peers in the G.O.P. across the country.

Comments disturbing? Walker is one of the best governors in the nation that money can buy and the Real David Koch has a lot of it. So Walker was just ALL-RIGHT excited about a victory junket offered by a Bogus David Koch.

Oh my, Walker's office has confirmed that he had this conversation with Bogus David Koch and it ended with on to victory and Calais “All right!”

Next thing you know Bogus French President Sarkozy will be calling Walker and suggesting that while Walker is on his Koch-provided junket to Calais, to which Walker responded, “All right!” Sarkozy is going to fly in France’s finest Champaign, the King of Cheese, Brie de Meaux, and Sara Palin to boot. All right!

Who needs any Wisconsin beer and cheese when you got a patron of politics like David Koch, if you are Walker, no wonder you would ended the call with “Thanks a million!”

There is absolutely nothing surprising about this. The GOP has tried such tactics many times before, especially at the prospect of losing -- just as they did during the 2000 Presidential campaign. They sent a busload of shouting vandals to Florida to force poll workers to stop counting! Since Lee Atwater, and even before, this has been their MO -- nothing surprising. It's so second nature with GOP operatives that they say it as a casual aside, forgetting they think differently from most of us. To them planting troublemakers is something they would automatically consider in any contest of wills. They plan to win at all costs, using any means.

The Republican Teabagger inbreeds campaigned against what they deemed to be "oppressive government" at the federal level during the health care reform debate - even though millions of Americans will substantially benefit from expanded access to health care. But when actual government oppression rears its ugly head in Wisconsin, the Teabagger clowns claim that they support their precious Governor Walker? What a bunch of phonies, liars and hypocrites!

In a move reminiscent of Poland under martial law in the early 1980s, Wisconsin's "General" Walker and other power-hungry Republicans in the Wisconsin state legislature (and their party brethren across the country), are attempting to unilaterally decree that henceforth virtually all public union activity will be controlled by the authoritarian state. Walker has even said that he may need to call in the National Guard. And the slack jawed Teabagger yokels support this statist takeover?

This is the same governor Walker who has lied about the state budget crisis, claiming erroneously that the salaries and benefits of public workers are to blame. When in actuality, the governor's tax cuts cuts for the rich program (according to Wisconsin's nonpartisan state budget office) was what turned a budget surplus into a budget deficit this year.

This is the same governor Walker who is engaging in blatant political favoritism and cronyism, by pledging to maintain the collective bargaining rights of the public unions who supported him in the last election (police, firefighters). Meanwhile, the rights of teachers, correction officers, social workers, and other public professionals are being attacked by Walker. Obviously, he's targeting their right to engage in collective bargaining, as a form of political payback for opposing him in the last election.

This is a clear statist attempt to destroy the more "Democratic leaning" unions, while protecting the more "Republican leaning" interest groups and other funding sources for Governor Walker and his like-minded authoritarian peers in the G.O.P. across the country.

All the right wingers on here quoting FDR will be on the Limbaugh/Beck/Palin black list. They have forgotten the motto of that trio and Fox News (except Shepherd Smith, whose days at Fox are probably numbered) is that a Democrat, even one 70 years ago never did anything right. Remember, FDR started Social Security, which the GOP wants to end, along with "let it die on the vine" for Medicare,
per Newt the Toot Gingrich.

It's a sad commentary on our state of affairs when we have a Governor who seriously wants to use dirty tricks against his opposition so blatantly and engages in union-busting that is more filthy politics than fiscal conservativism.... Then we have a "President" who has said "punish our enemies" (and he wasn't referring to al Qaeda), "when they bring a knife, we'll bring a gun" and acts in an otherwise unprofessional manner....

It is disgusting that it seems that there are some in both parties more than happy to shut down the government in a thoughtless manner --- consequences be damned!!--just blame the other guy! We need some responsible leadership --- Indiana's governor Mitch Daniels or General David Patraeus may fit the bill.

WI voters must consider a RECALL of Walker. He has proven that there is no integrity, character and/or leadership skills to be called a governor, please. Walker is on the side of the wealthiest (Koch brothers, etc) and rich companies. Walker, just like Bush/Cheney, blew through a surplus when he took office by giving tax credits to his donors' companies without an offset. WI citizens deserve better and therefore need to initiate a RECALL of Walker, asap. Walker was going to start a physical riot, just to point his fingers at the protesters that have been nothing but civil. Walker needs to go, along with other Republican governors and congress folks. In 2012, we must come out in force and vote that will result in a strong message: MIDDLE CLASS AND LOW INCOME FAMILIES WILL BE RESPECTED AND NO LONGER HAVE THE DEFICIT BURDEN - THAT WE DID NOT CAUSE - PLACED ON OUR SHOULDERS. Any worker wants decit wages, pension and healthcare and if the union is the only groups' that Republicans understand will stand tall for us, then we will protest to keep our collective bargaining. God bless WI folks and all other working families; so we can be ready for our voting voice in 2012.

Maybe Walker just believes in some of the same things Obama does? You know, when Obama said people should punish their enemies and reward their friends. After all, if the president says it and you progressives didn't disagree, it must be something you agree with doing. So, now you are complaining?

Walker is spending his political capital, just like Bush did. Like all republicans, he pays back his corporate friends at the expense of the middle-income taxpayers and workers. The phone call clearly showed the he is corrupt - lying, using violence and working for his corporate masters. He does not represent the Wisconson people and is clearly not interested in balancing the budget and creating jobs!!! Repeal him !!!!

The call was bad, simple as that. Koch doesn't live or vote in Wisconsin, he has business and political interests there.
As a local issue, reasonable folks aren't going to like their Gov taking this call. All the big hurry to get his bill passed apparently is trumped by a fairly long call from the money. Not much to like here.

The Tea Partying of America has started, and the country now stands at a defining moment where it will be determined whether the rich and powerful forces behind the Tea Party and the millions of people they have lied to and deceived will succeed in destroying our democracy http://wp.me/pNmlT-BT

Kind of incredible to compare this how the media went completely nuts when the people getting punk'd were low-level nobodies at ACORN offices. Despite the fact that no one in the media had any idea how many times they'd tried this scam before they finally hit some morons, despite the editing and refusal to share un-edited tape, despite the fact that these were NOBODIES who in at least one case was joking...the media went crazy, for days and days.

But when a SITTING GOVERNOR gets nailed endorsing violent provocation in his own home state, a place he's sworn to defend...we get crickets. The media has zero interest.

So, the actions of nobodies who do intake at ACORN are newsworthy, but the actions of a sitting governor of the state that is currently the #1 domestic news story in the country isn't newsworthy...HUH?

Right-wingers (Republicans) are busy dismantling the United States and turning us into a third-world debtor nation with rationed health care, unaffordable education, almost a quarter of our population unemployed or homeless and approaching poverty.

And all of this is happening as violent lawlessness is rising amid disbanded police departments with an armed-to-the-teeth delusional right-wing mob (racist Teabagger morons) embracing this new anarchy.

The Teapublicans revel in the mess they have built for us.

The right-wingers (Republicans) broke my country and are throwing the pieces onto the trash heap of history, and they are proud of it.

People in this country have come to believe it's on the brink of ruin and everyone must do their part to save it. They see union government employees with decent wages, healthcare, and pensions that they themselves don't have and they want to take it away from state workers to save themselves a buck or two in taxes. Mutual sacrifice in their eyes. What they don't see is the ever decreasing tax revenue being collected from corporations and the extremely wealthy. It's starving both the federal government and state governments of cash.

Outside of military expenditures, federal government spending on quality of life issues has been below that of other nations with first-rate living standards. We've become a second-rate nation in that regard. And why? Because the government is too afraid of demanding more taxes from corporations and the elite ruling class, has been dumping the burden on the middle class, and has been spending more and more on the military and wars.

That's been the greatest Right Wing con of them all: Taxes are bad, but especially bad for the wealthy and corporations. The so-called "job creators". Like what, the wealthy are going to move away? So what. And corporations are going to send their jobs overseas and hide the income in Cayman Island banks? Too late.

Every person (Teabagger cretins i.e. the middle class Republican base) against what unions stand for are like stupid a-holes being flogged by their Republican plantation boss and thanking him for it. Every politician too afraid to call out the elite --making a killing is this country-- and demanding more money from them are useless cowards.

The Teapublicans ran a wholly disingenuous 2010 campaign, which obviously had NOTHING to do with creating jobs, encouraging economic growth, replacing PPACA with a viable alternative, or even reducing the debt/deficit in a serious manner. It's the disingenuous nature of the GOP agenda that really gets me. If they were about solving serious problems and we disagreed on policy, that would be one thing. But as it stands now, it is obvious that they have no intention of acting in a serious manner. They are consumed with smacking Democrats as their ideological opposition and preventing Obama

continued...from getting any political wins. That is what drives them and it does nothing but actively undermine the country in which we all live. Walker is a dictator and his Teahadist Republican regime is out to destroy our freedom and decades of policies to help the average hard working American.

It's time to Recall Walker and his Teapublican cronies, they're only interested in lining the pockets of their rich friends Koch Brothers) and take from the poor and middle class hard working Americans. Republican's 2012 Bumper Sticker Campaign Slogan. Vote! "Screw America and Give it All to the Rich!" or Vote! "Take from the poor and give more to the rich!

What "King" Walker is attempting to do in Wisconsin is typical of todays Teabagger Republican governors. They blame a sector of the middle class (union workers) for all the countries (states) economic problems and get the middle class and poor fighting among themselves for leftover economic crumbs.

Once they've got that misdirection in place they proceed to selling off the states assets at pennies on the dollar and handing out unpaid for, deficit ballooning, Tax Cuts to the Billionaire and Mega Corporation class of the state (the Koch Brothers). And because of those unpaid for tax cuts for the rich the states economic health never improves, thus giving the extremist Republican governor another excuse to cut more middle class services (Police, Fire, Garbage-service, Teachers etc) again.

I hope the protests against these goon Republican governors spread all over the country. I want the extremist Republican party to see what real middle grassroots anger looks like in their face (unlike the astroturfed Teabagger shout-fests that are bankrolled by right wing oil billionaires i.e. the Koch Brothers). 2012 is payback time for the extremist Teapublican party, and I can't wait.

With typical Republican/Teabagger arrogance Walker took office, backed by billionaires (the Koch crooks), and decided to force through a radical agenda. Walker has proven that even a cowed, unemployed, discouraged and dishearted population will fight back against the billionaire funded/Teapublican agenda when they go too far.

Walker will be recalled barring another massive influx of Koch Brothers cash, or a scandal that forces him out earlier than next winter and given his record, either is a real possibility. Let his recall be a warning to the radical right wing lunatic fringe - you do not represent the people of this country, and no amount of Fox News Propaganda, or corrupt Citizen's United Cash (Koch Brothers, Dick Armey, Karl Rove etc) will outweigh the democratic process.

Mark, you'll have to excuse right lunatic fringe whackjobs like Gary Riippi. It's not their fault that they're misinformed and too stupid to do their own independent research. They watch Fox Right Wing Propaganda Channel and listen to AM Hate Radio 24/7, where multi-millionaires like Limbaugh, Beck and Hannity etc convince them to protest and vote against their own self-interests, and FOR the interests of multi millionaires and billionaires.

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